A new study finds that the sleep hormones found in melatonin can make breast cancer treatment more effective. The study was conducted by Tabiz University of Medical Sciences in Iran and showed that tiny bubbles filled with melatonin were effective in making tamoxifen stronger, helping it to kill cancer cells. The bubbles are called nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs).
Another find from the university is that NLCs filled with melatonin could also be effective in keeping the cancer cells from avoiding becoming resistant to treatment.
The main drug used in treating women diagnosed with breast cancer is tamoxifen, which stops breast cells from growing. However, tamoxifen has some severe side effects worth discussing. In addition to regular side effects including irregular menstruation, weight loss, and hot flashes, tamoxifen also can increase the risk of uterine cancer, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and can cause vision problems.
Tamofixen users also run the risk of the developing chemoresistance, which means cancer cells become resistant to it and become less effective and/or stop working altogether.
In the past, melatonin has shown that it can kill cancer cells, so the researchers on the study decided to team it with tamofixen to kill cells more effectively.
"We tried to solve both issues by putting melatonin into nanostructures so they can help the chemotherapeutic agent kill more cells," said corresponding author Dr. Nasser Samadi,from Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. "By doing this, you can decrease the dose of tamoxifen needed, reducing the severity of the side effects."
A naturally occurring hormone in the body, melatonin is needed for sleep and the growth and development of different tissues. However, it is very easily broke down and needs to be taken or re-injected every few hours in order to have a constant presence in the body for it to kill cancer cells. To take advantage of this fact, the researchers on the study tested the effectiveness of melatonin as an adjuvant to tamofixen by developing the tiny bubbles, NLCs, to release melatonin slowly over a period of time. This makes it possible for the hormone to continually kills cancer cells without the patient having to take new doses.
The researchers were able to discover, through testing the structures on cells in the lab, that the NLCs filled with melatonin inhibited the growth of breast cancer cells more effectively than melatonin alone. Empty NLCs were also tested and were found to not kill breast cancer cells by themselves, although they weren’t toxic to the surrounding tissue either.
"Lots of nanostructures these days are toxic to the body or to other cells, but we found no significant toxicity in the empty NLCs. The characteristics are very suitable for applying to these kinds of treatments,” says Dr. Samadi.
Even though the study was only recently conducted and research is at a very early stage, the researchers plans to test the NLCs on other cancer cells and eventually move to clinical trials in the future.
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